Author Topic: Hickory board help  (Read 1107 times)

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Offline Blayne

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Hickory board help
« on: September 19, 2015, 08:20:48 pm »
Hey guys. I was given this piece of hickory. It is 9" wide and 1" thick, with the intentions of building some flat bows. Probably stiff handle AFB style. I have never worked with hickory before. Was thinking about ripping this board down to 2" strips, probably adding something to the handle to make it thicker. I presume it would be best to back this? Also is it okay to use the sap wood? Thanks!

« Last Edit: September 20, 2015, 03:14:09 pm by top_predator »
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Offline bowandarrow473

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Re: Hickory board
« Reply #1 on: September 19, 2015, 08:46:47 pm »
If the grain is straight then you should be totally fine unbacked. the sapwood on hickory is the primo stuff, super strong in tension. the heart wood is actually inferior to the sapwood but only by a marginal amount that would only matter in a severly overdrawn bow.
Whatever you are, be a good one.

Offline toomanyknots

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Re: Hickory board
« Reply #2 on: September 20, 2015, 09:29:21 am »
It looks like you might be able to use the left edge, it seems pretty straight grain quarter sawn sapwood.
"The way of heaven is like the bending of a bow-
 the upper part is pressed down,
 the lower part is raised up,
 the part that has too much is reduced,
 the part that has too little is increased."

- Tao Te Ching, 77, A new translation by Victor H. Mair